[prinmel]

my tank is very stable for fish, i have 3 large balas, 1 large rainbow shark and one small albino rainbow shark, 2 large albino tinfoil barbs, and 6 small tiger barbs. they are all doing very well and the tank has been going for over a year and never had any disease or fish death. I have three plants that have been in there the whole time i dont know what they are but they look terrible!!!! they all look yellow and one is stringy and has brown spots that turn into holes and they all have algae all over them. they have been living but not well. I want to have natural plants so bad. my water is very alkaline and pretty hard. i dont want to change the water because the fish are doing so well so im looking for plants that will be able to survive in my tank. all i have for light is the grow lights that came with the 55 gallon hood. i dont want to add co2 or anything high tech. does anyone have any idea what i can do to get a nice looking planted tank with minimal time put in to it.

 

[justme]

With the basic light system, you're looking at only low light plants. It sounds like you've got plants that need much more light and nutrients than you're providing. Hence the yellowing and "stringyness", your plants are essentially starving to death.

If you want to keep plants I'd suggest looking into some of the very low light plants: Java ferns or Anubias